Accurate Task Force movement

[Fattysbox]

So its about late April when I get a message saying Jap forces converging in the Coral Sea.

I decided to check how accurate to history the movement of the japanese carrier groups were. Went to Wiki and pretty much tracked exactly where a Hiryu would be on night fall on May 6th. Take it up to extra intelligence from Washington :lol: ...

All day May 6th I'm in my area, and every 20 minutes I'm getting aircraft contacts indicative of a carrier group. Sure enough around 11pm, one Hiryu, and three escort carriers along with cruisers and escorts were spotted. They were too far away for an attack so I had to let them go. However, this group was going south and in the morning were scheduled to turn around and head north.

:p

Sure enough come morning I'm now in favorable position for attack... The hiryu and escort carriers dodged my spread but 2 Mogami ran into fish...


My question:

How far does the historical representation go? Will we see 40 planes dive bombing a carrier group if we are in the right place and time? What about huge naval engagments (Java Sea, Leyte Gulf)?

[Reno]

This question came up in November of last year in one of the RSRD threads...

Can I find historical taskforces with this mod?

and this was my reply...

12-10-41 (0300 hours)
25 miles west of Vigan, Luzon

While enroute to San Bernadino patrol area, spotted several warships approaching Vigan from the west. Maneuvered S-36 to shooting position on zig-zagging Horai Maru (large old passenger carrier-9513 tons). Four fish fired. Three struck amidship, the fourth was a dud. Large explosion followed by a smaller secondary. Ship sank almost immediately. Aggressive escort activity. Heavy depth charging. Four inch deck gun destroyed. Minor damage to hull.

Historical Note:
On December 10, 1941 at 0300 hours, the Kanno Detachment, a Task Force consisting of 1 cruiser, 7 destroyers, and 6 transports arrived at Vigan. The transports were carrying approximately 2200 men from the First and Third Battalions of the 2nd Formosa Infantry Regiment. Their mission was to capture and maintain the Vigan airfield in support of further operations against Manila. The actual landing went unopposed. Although we had some 30 submarines operating out of Cavite, including 6 S-boats, not one of them came to the party. The weather was also a little different. During my attack the seas were moderate and it was very dark. During the actual landing there was a strong wind from the north east and rough seas. I recall counting 15 contacts on the map during the approach but I probably miscounted in all the excitement. I did try to count the transports but had to give up when the escorts arrived in ernest. I only saw two transports and one supply ship. The rest were warships.

One of the more memorable moments came when the torpedoes were fired. One of the escorts spotted them in the water, fired a warning signal, launched star shells, and began firing randomly into the water. The Maru sped up but it was too late. I was too close and the torpedoes were already on her. The depth charge attack was intense. The sound effects (ROW) are very well done and I could have sworn I heard one of the barrels bounce off the hull. The hull sway from a near miss is also great. I was finally able to creep out of the area at 2 knots. When I surfaced my batteries were down to less than 25 percent. It was midmorning and there were no ships on the horizon.


****

12-11-41 (0011 Hours)
44 miles WNW of Appari, Luzon

After the successful encounter with the Kanno Detachment at Vigan the S-36 again set course for her assigned area of the San Bernadino Strait. While rounding the northwest corner of Luzon, several warships, with transports in tow, were spotted south of the Babuyan Islands. The S-36 was maneuvered into a shooting position on a Horai Maru travelling in column with five other transports. Four fish fired. Two struck amidship, two were duds. Maru listed to port and sank. Coordinated escort attack forced an evasive dive to port below the thermal layer. Tubes one and two reloaded and a snapshot made on a trailing Heito Maru (Medium Modern Composite Freighter) before once again being forced below the thermal layer by sharp-eyed escorts. One explosion heard, one miss. Limped from the area at two knots with hull and battery damage and a visible oil leak on the port side just below the conning tower.

Historical Note:
In the early morning hours of December 11, 1941 the Tanaka Detachment, consisting of one cruiser, seven destroyers, and six transports approached Aparri from the north. In the transports were the remaining 2000 men from the 2nd Formosa Infantry Regiment used at Vigan. Its mission was to capture and maintain the airfield at Aparri. Like the Kanno Detachment, Tanaka was designed to play a supporting role for the main forces massing to the south. There was little in the way of resistance.

I'm having a great time in the battered but not beaten S-36. Not only did she discover both TF's hours before anyone historically knew they were even around, but she also gave them a bloody nose. My thanks to all the modders who made this possible. Now if I can only sink something in my assigned area with only two Mark 10's left.:hmm:
(At the moment my mods are RSRDC/ROW/NSM Classic/NSM Hardcore Torpedo/FooBor's S-Class Black Hi-Res/Captain Cox Uniform/Hamilton Model 23 Chrono Night Attack version with different top by DMZ aka Deadbeat.)

****

Well, as it turned out, the assigned area was a bust. After all the excitement of the historic Kanno and Tanaka TF actions, the San Bernadino area was a huge let down. Not one enemy contact in five full days of patrol. Determined not to return to base with tubes 3 and 4 still loaded, the S-36 set course for Vegan, the site of her first kill. She never made it...

12-22-41 (0935 Hours)
Lingayen Gulf, Luzon

Weather deteriorating. Submerged for routine sound sweep. Sound contact at 24000 yards southeast in the Lingayen Gulf. Surfaced and proceeded on contact bearing at flank speed. Numerous smoke columns sighted to the southeast. Plot confirms at least 35 contacts at Long 120 03 E Lat 16 36 N. Contact report sent. Submerged at 8000 yards. Scope sightings hampered by extremely rough surface conditions. Maneuvered for attack on Nagara Maru flanked by two Kiturin Marus. Torpedoes fired from tubes 3 and 4 at 1200 yards. Both struck Nagara amidship on starboard side. Maru listed to starboard and sank. Escort activity aggressive but not accurate. Escaped to the northwest and RTB with tubes empty.

Historical Note:
In the early morning hours of December 22, 1941, the main body of Japan's Luzon invasion fleet steamed into the Lingayen Gulf. The fleet was divided into three echelons. The first was made up of 1 cruiser, 8 destroyers, and 27 transports. The second had 1 cruiser, 7 destroyers, and 28 transports and the third had 1 destroyer, 4 light destroyers, and 21 transports. Each echelon was assigned a separate area of the Lingayen Gulf. In total the transports contained 43,110 men from General Homma's 14th Army. The landing was supported by numerous aircraft from airbases captured earlier by the Kanno, Tanaka, and Legaspi TF's. B-17's flying from Australia engaged the fleet with little effect. U.S. submarines were also in the area but ineffectual. By the evening of December 23, 1941 General Homma's Army had pushed 10 miles inland.

Patrol Notes:
Half expected marching bands and CMOH :smug: at patrol's end but only got a purple heart and reassignment to the San Bernadino area. War is hell. By way of critique the only negatives I saw were the following:
1. Main invasion fleet was leaving Lingayen Gulf instead of arriving.
2. Did not see one aircraft.
3. San Bernadino/Samar very very quiet. Almost like the Legaspi TF never arrived.
4. No mention of Japanese activity by COMSUBPAC.

Too many positives to remember them all...Great job.:up:

About a month after this post I left SH and just recently returned. I remember wondering at the time just how accurate SH (with RSRD and other mods) was. I planned on searching out history but never got back to it. Thanks for reminding me.

[Captain Dave]

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=137686 This link is to a post I made last June about a convoy fighting it out with the American ships. Post #5.

[SteamWake]

How far does the historical representation go? Will we see 40 planes dive bombing a carrier group if we are in the right place and time? What about huge naval engagments (Java Sea, Leyte Gulf)?

It has a lot to do with which mods you are using.

Stock game... not so much ;)